William Drennan
William Drennan (23 May 1754 – 5 February 1820) was an Irish physician and writer who moved the formation in
Belfast and
Dublin of the
Society of United Irishmen. He was the author of the Society's original "
test" which, in the cause of representative government, committed "Irishmen of every religious persuasion" to a "brotherhood of affection". Drennan had been active in the
Irish Volunteer movement and achieved renown with addresses to the public as his "fellow slaves" and to the
British Viceroy urging "full and final"
Catholic emancipation. After the suppression of the
1798 Rebellion, he sought to advance democratic reform through his continued journalism and through education. With other United Irish veterans, Drennan founded the [[Royal Belfast Academical Institution|Belfast [later the ''Royal'' Belfast] Academical Institution]]. As a poet, he is remembered for his eve-of-rebellion ''When Erin First Rose'' (1795) with its reference to Ireland as the "Emerald Isle".
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